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The global monitoring organization Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is currently conducting an evaluation of money laundering activities associated with drug trafficking in Costa Rica. They are particularly focused on the real estate industry.

Operated by the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, the facility allows growers to receive immediate feedback on the ripening patterns of their mangoes, and quickly identify any diseases or problems with the fruit.

A NEW fruit ripening facility at the Coastal Plains Research Farm has been welcomed by mango growers as an invaluable tool for the industry.

The new building and equipment will also aid research aimed at boosting the quality of Northern Territory mangoes and other fruit.

Operated by the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, the facility allows growers to receive immediate feedback on the ripening patterns of their mangoes, and quickly identify any diseases or problems with the fruit.

Some of the hi-tech tools available include a near-infrared spectrometer, colour meter, and texture meter.

The instruments also allow for remote monitoring, so environmental conditions can be adjusted from afar.

A study from Colombia has found that coatings based on natural elements can greatly increase mango shelf life while maintaining the fruit’s texture, color and weight.

The Universidad Nacional de Colombia research project involved developing a blend of cassava starch and citric pectin, in which fruits were submerged for two minutes and then stored a 11º C (51.8º F) and a relative humidity of 80%.

These types of coatings provide a semi-pervious barrier to the surface of the product that increases carbon dioxide and decreases oxygen levels, according to researcher Eliana María Estrada.

This allows for color, texture and weight to be preserved for a longer period of time, compared to the normal maturation time – between the sixth and tenth day.“We chose mango because it is one of the main tropical fruits, and after the Andean blueberry it is the second most common flavor in fruit juices,”Estrada said in a release.

(NaturalNews) Thirty years ago, the diversity of the world's news media was broad. In 1983, some 50 companies owned "the media" in the U.S. and the world; obviously, with so many companies vying for listeners, viewers and readers, competition was intense -- not just for audience but for advertisers as well.

Fast forward to 2014: That field of media companies has been winnowed down to just a half-dozen companies: ** Time Warner, ** Disney, ** Murdoch's News Corporation, ** Bertelsmann of Germany, ** Viacom (formerly CBS) and ** General Electric-owned NBC.

In a word, that's pretty scary. As observed by The Economic Collapse blog:

These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day. They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. S…

Updated about 7 hours agoThu 13 Nov 2014, 9:51pm PHOTO: There are heaps of NT mangoes in the market right now. (Matt Brann) RELATED STORY: Automatic mango grader can process 500 fruit per minute RELATED STORY: A record year for Honey Gold mangoes RELATED STORY: Queensland mangoes hit the markets RELATED STORY: Mango prices on the slide MAP: Darwin 0800
In what's thought to be a record, nearly 900,000 trays of mangoes were trucked out of the Northern Territory last week.
Boyd Arthur, from the Australian Mango Industry Association, says consumers are the big winner, with markets around Australia now loaded with quality NT fruit.
He says the logistics of getting so many mangoes to market in one week has been incredible.
"It's a huge amount of fruit.
"The availability of trucking is a bit more open for the mango season this year due to the melon and banana problems we've had in the Territory," Mr Arthur said.